Package container for gift merchandise



Oct. 1, 1957 s 2,808,194

PACKAGE CONTAINER FOR GIFT MERCHANDISE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 19, 1955 FIG.3.

IN VEN TOR.

\M HAROLD 0.oo| s 22 BY MWZfM ATTORNEY Oct. 1, 1957 H. D. DOLS PACKAGE CONTAINER FOR GIFT MERCHANDISE 2 SheetSPSheet 2 Filed Sept. 19. 1955 INVENTOR.

HAROLID n. o0| s my 1 ATTO R NEY United States Patent 2,808,194 PACKAGE CONTAINER FOR GIFT MERCHANDISE Harold D. Dols, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Hiram Walker & Sons, Inc., Peoria, Ill.

Application September 19, 1955, Serial No. 534,978 4 Claims. (Cl. 229-87) The present invention relates to a package container for gift merchandise, and more particularly to improvements in construction of a container which is designed to be machine wrapped at the factory in such manner that it will not require further special wrapping by the retail merchant to render the package suitable for gift purposes.

An important object of the invention is to provide a package container of the type mentioned having a separate transparent outer covering adapted to bear brand identification and mandatory label information, such for example as may be required in the case of alcoholic liquors, which covering may be easily removed after the package has been purchased to provide an unmarked package in fully wrapped gift form.

A further object of the invention is to provide a package container for gift merchandise which is so constructed that it may be readily opened for inspection purposes and then closed without in any way mutilating the package or imparing its appearance.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein there is shown a typical embodiment of a gift package having the improvements constituting the invention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the package in its completely folded and finished state;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the package with the outer transparent covering removed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the package with both the outer transparent covering and the gift card removed therefrom;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the innermost carton portion of the package;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section through the upper end of the package, the view being taken on the line 5-5, Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the upper end of the completely assembled package with the parts in the fully opened position;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the innermost carton in the closed position;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing both the innermost carton and the decorative wrapping covering in closed position with the outermost transparent covering in open position; and

Fig. 9 is a View similar to Fig. 6 showing the package in the fully closed position.

The drawings illustrate the application of the invention to a container for alcoholic beverages, as for example, a bottle of whiskey 11, the upper portion of which is illustrated in Fig. 5. Although the improved container construction is particularly designed for the gift wrapping of products such as alcoholic liquors which are frequently required by governmental regulations to be marked with certain mandatory information, and which may be subject to inspection by customs or tax authorities, it will be understood that the novel features of con- "ice struction may be readily applied to the packaging of many different kinds of products which are suitable subjects for gifts.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings the bottle of whiskey 11 is contained in an inner carton 12 which is preferably made of fairly heavyweight cardboard and the lower end of which is permanently closed by inward folding of the lower edges of two opposite side walls followed by inward folding and sealing of the lower edge of one of the other side walls in customary manner. The upper end of inner carton 12 is closed by flaps 13 and 14 (Fig. 6) which constitute the upper extremities of the side walls 15 and 16, respectively, and by a third flap 17 which forms the upper extremity of the rear wall 18. The flap 17 is provided with a tongue portion 19 which is creased along the line 20. The flap 17 is cut to provide a small semicircular tab 21. It will be apparent that the upper end of inner carton 12 will be completely closed when the aforementioned parts are moved from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 7, the flap 17 engaging over the side flaps 13 and 14 to bring tongue portion 19 into lapping engagement with the interior upper front edge of the front wall 22 (Fig. 5). With inner carton 12 thus closed, the tab 21 may be depressed so that the operator's finger can engage under a portion of fiap 17 to pull the latter to open position which then readily permits side flaps 13 and 14 to be moved to open position. The engagement of the tongue portion 19 against the upper edge of the front carton wall 22 is sufficiently snug to normally hold these flap portions in closed position.

Inner carton 12 will ordinarily be made of plain unmarked cardboard. To provide a gift wrap for this inner carton, in accordance with my invention, I employ a covering of decorative wrapping paper or foil 23 which is suitably printed with an attractive or fanciful design or pattern 24 (Fig. 2) but which is otherwise unmarked. The decorative paper 23 is so applied that the lower ends thereof will be inwardly folded and permanently sealed in customary manner to close the lower end of the package. The upper end of the wrapping 23 folds in a progressive lap fold to close the upper end of the package. This progressive fold can conveniently be made by folding inwardly and progressing from left to right, viewing Fig. 7, the upper side edge 25 being first folded inwardly, this then being followed by inward folding of the rear side edge 26 which in turn is followed by inward folding of the second side edge 27 and finally by the inward folding of the forward side edge 28 to form a complete top closure as illustrated in Fig. 8.

In the embodiment shown an extra, and optional, luxury decorative feature in the form of a strip of ribhon 29 is applied over the decorative wrapping 23 the strip running vertically along the front and back walls of the package and across the top and bottom walls as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The ends of this ribbon strip lap one another at the top of the package and each end carries a small strip of sealing tape (not shown) both sides of which are provided with a pressure-sensitive adhesive so that when the strip of ribbon which crosses the top of the package is lifted by means of the tab 31 the ribbon which crosses the top of the package may be lifted to in turn permit the opening of the flaps 25, 26, 27 and 28. When these flaps are returned to closed position these pressure sensitive strips will re-engage one another to hold the ribbon in sealing position.

Superposed on the flaps 25, 26. 27 and 28 when in closed position is a gift card 32 which is provided on its undersurface with pressure-sensitive adhesive so that it will readily adhere to the front fiap 28 and the ribbon 29. When the ribbon tab 31 is lifted from the closed position shown in Fig. 8 to the open position shown in Fig. 7

the gift card 32 will move upwardly with flap 28 and the portion of the ribbon strip 29 which crosses the top of the package. The gift card 32, of course, is designed to carry a suitable gift message to be written by the donor after he has purchased the package.

Inasmuch as certain products, as for example alcoholic liquors, are required to carry certain mandatory descriptive information on the label. and inasmuch as the label on bottle 11 is completely obscured when the bottle is placed in carton 12, I have provided, in accordance with my invention, an outer transparent covering 33 which is preferably made of cellophane and which carries, preferably by printing, a panel 34 (Fig. 1) containing the brand name and any required mandatory or desired descriptive information. The transparent outer covering 33 is folded in the same manner as the gift wrapping 23, being closed at the lower end and the upper end being closed by progressive inward folding of the edges 35, 36, 37 and 38. A rectangular tab or seal 39, provided on its undersurface with pressure-sensitive adhesive, engages over the inwardly folded edges 35, 36, 37 and 38 to complete the seal. This tab preferably has a printed notation thereon to indicate that it may be lifted to open the end of the transparent covering 33 to permit removal of the latter and thereby provide an unmarked package in fully wrapped gift form.

As already noted, the panel 34 on the outer transparent covering 35 is designed to carry the brand name and any required mandatory information which the label on package 11 carries but which has been obscured by the wrapping. Removal of the covering 33 transforms the package to one that is unmarked and immediately ready for gift use without requiring any special Wrapping by the retailer. However while still on the retailers shelves the package carries the necessary brand and mandatory designations, and since the outer covering 33 is transparent, the inner decorative covering 23 is in full view so that the package while on the shelf still has the general appearance of a gift package.

It is intended that the merchandise 11 will be placed in the carton 12 at the distillery or factory and that the decorative Wrapping paper 23, the ribbon 29, the gift card 32. the outer transparent covering 33 and finally the instruction tab or seal 39 will all be applied right at the distillery before shipment of the merchandise to the distributor. Most of the wrapping steps will ordinarily be done on automatic wrapping machines. In the event a government inspector or a customs officer wishes to inspect the merchandise while still in the hands of the distributor or while still on the retailers premises it is not necessary to mutilate the package in any way. He simply opens the upper end of the package by lifting the pressure-sensitive seal 39, then the ribbon tab 31 which raises the gift card 32 and the fiap 28. From this point on it is merely a matter of lifting the remaining flaps 27, 26 and 25 and the inner carton flaps 17, 13 and 14. The inspection being completed, the flaps of carton 12 are closed and the ends of the decorative wrapping 23 and transparent covering 33 are refolded in progressive order followed by pressing down the final sealing tab 39 to restore the package to its original fully closed position.

Although the invention has been described in connection with the details of a specific embodiment it is to be understood that these details are not to be regarded as limitations upon the scope of the invention except insofar as included in the accompanying claims. For example the decorative wrapping 23 could be dispensed with and in lieu thereof a decorative design could be printed directly on the walls of carton 12. Such variations are within the contemplated scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A package container for gift merchandise comprising an inner carton permanently closed at one end and having at the other end a flap folded from one side wall into overlapping engagement with the opposite side wall to provide a movable end closure, a gift wrapper covering enclosing said inner carton and permanently closed at the end overlying the closed end of the inner carton, and having a lap fold at the other end of said gift wrapper covering folded over said lap fold, said gift wrapper covering being free of brand description of the contents of said carton, a transparent outer covering permanently closed at the end overlying the permanently closed end of the gift wrapper covering, the lap fold at the other end of said transparent covering being folded over the folded end of the decorative covering, a pressure-sensitive adhesive-carrying seal secured to the outrnost fold of the folded end of said gift wrapper covering and a second pressure-sensitive adhesive-carrying seal secured to the outmost fold of the folded end of said transparent covering thereby permitting manual displacement of said seals and access to the contents of the container and allowing reclosing of the container without mutilation of any portion of the container walls, all brand description of the merchandise contents of the package being carried on said transparent covering and said gift wrapper covering being free of said brand description whereby, upon removal of said transparent covering, there is provided an unmarked package in fully wrapped gift form.

2. A package container for gift merchandise comprising an inner carton permanently closed at one end and having at the other end a flap folded from one side wall into overlapping engagement with the opposite side wall to provide a movable end closure, a gift wrapper covering enclosing said inner carton and permanently closed at the end overlying the closed end of the inner carton, a progressive lap fold at the other end of said gift wrapper covering being folded over said flap closure to provide a folded end, a gift card secured to the outmost fold of the folded end of said gift wrapper covering, said card having pressure-sensitive adhesive means on the inner surface thereof to serve as a removable seal for the folded end of the gift Wrapper covering, a transparent outer covering permanently closed at the end overlying the permanently closed end of the gift wrapper covering, the other end of said transparent covering being provided with a progressive lap fold folded over the folded end of the gift wrapper covering and one of said side walls having thereon brand name and any descriptive indicia required to identify the contents of the package, and a tab secured to the outermost fold of the lap fold of said transparent covering and having pressure-sensitive adhesive means on the inner surface thereof to serve as a removable seal for the lap fold of the transparent covering, the exposed face of said tab having directions thereon for removing the transparent covering to provide an unmarked package in fully wrapped gift form.

3. A package container for gift merchandise subject to removal, inspection and replacement in said package container by a government official, said package container comprising an inner carton for holding the merchandise, and having two ends, pressure-sensitive adhesive carrying means for releasably closing one of said ends, a gift wrapper covering enclosing said carton and being free of brand description of the contents of the container, and having two ends, one end thereof being disposed over said one end of said inner carton, pressure-sensitive adhesive-carrying means for releasably closing said one of said ends of said gift Wrapper covering, and a removable transparent covering carrying thereon brand description of the merchandise contents of the container and overlying said inner carton and having two ends, one end thereof overlying said one end of said gift wrapper covering, a pressure-sensitive adhesive-carrying seal for re leasably closing said one end of said transparent covering whereby, upon removal of said last mentioned pressuresensitive adhesive-carrying seal and said transparent covering, there is provided a wrapped gift package unmarked on the exterior thereof by brand description.

4. A package container for gift merchandise subject to removal, inspection and replacement in said package container by a government ofiicial, said package container comprising an inner carton for holding the merchandise, the outer surfaces of said carton being free of brand description of the merchandise contents of the container, said carton having two ends, pressure-sensitive adhesivecarrying means for releasably closing one of said ends, and a removable transparent covering carrying thereon brand description of the merchandise contents of the container and overlying said inner carton, said covering having two ends, one end thereof overlying said one end of said inner carton, a pressure-sensitive adhesive-carrying seal for releasably closing said one end of said transparent covering whereby, upon removal of said last mentioned 15 pressure-sensitive adhesive-carrying seal and said transparent covering, there is provided a wrapped gift package unmarked on the exterior thereof by brand description.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Davis Jan. 3, Smith Mar. 7, Hoffman et al Mar. 13, Vogt Sept. 17, Hannigan Apr. 4, Bailar Feb. 6, Bob Sept. 24. Schmitt May 11, Kindseth Nov. 1, James Feb. 5,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 22, 

